Until May (Until Her/Him #11)(62)

“Hey,” I greet him when he’s close, and he smiles at me, then looks at Toya and lifts his chin in greeting.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asks me, then glances at Aiden, who is standing behind me with his hand wrapped around my hip, and does a double-take. “I know you.” He snaps his fingers while pointing up at Aiden. “You’re Aiden Bender. You play soccer, right?”

“I used to play,” Aiden says, and Zach nods.

“Yeah, that’s right. You got kicked off your team.”

“I was injured and couldn’t return to my team,” Aiden mutters, sounding annoyed, while his fingers flex on my waist.

“That sucks,” Zach says and shakes his head, then asks, “Would you be willing to sign something for me? A guy we work with is a huge fan of yours, and he would flip his shit if I got your autograph.”

“Sure,” Aiden agrees, and I expect Zach to take off so he can find a pen and paper, but instead, he just stands there with us.

“I think your date is getting upset that you’re talking to us,” Toya tells him, and his eyes go to the table he was sitting at, and I look that direction, finding she’s right. The woman he’s with does, in fact, look annoyed.

“She’ll be fine,” he says, then his eyes come back to me and move down my body. When they land on Aiden’s hand on my waist, his brows drag together.

“Sorry, I’m being rude. You know Aiden, but I didn’t get a chance to introduce you two,” I say to Zach, and he lifts his gaze to mine. “Zach, this is my boyfriend.” I look up at Aiden. “This is Zach. He works at the high school.”

“What’s up?” Aiden lifts his chin but doesn’t make a move to shake his hand. Then again, Zach doesn’t stick out his hand either.

“When you said you were kind of seeing someone a few weeks ago, I thought you were just blowing me off,” he says, and I feel my face instantly become hot, while Aiden shifts behind me.

“I wasn’t,” I mumble, and he nods, then runs his fingers through his hair before glancing at the table, where his date is watching us with a sour look on her face.

“I’m gonna check on Mandy. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Sure, have fun.”

“Yeah, you too,” he says over his shoulder as he walks off, and I know I shouldn’t feel bad, but I still kind of do. Okay, maybe I don’t feel so bad, since after he was injured and I sent him an email, his reply back to me was to ask if I wanted to come over and play nurse. I, of course, ignored it, because first of all, it was on the school’s email server, but also because at that time, he thought I was dating someone, proving he is a jerk.

“You wanna explain to me when exactly it was that we were kind of seeing each other?” Aiden whispers against my ear, and even though it shouldn’t be possible, I feel my face become even hotter than it already was.

“No.”

“Hm.” He kisses the side of my head, and I bite my lip, then move up in line. When we reach the bar, we each order food and drinks, then go in search of a table and end up finding one in the back of the building, where there is a play area for kids along with a golf simulator.

“So, Aiden, what are your intentions with my best friend?” Toya asks as soon as we are seated, and I groan, because I should have expected her to start interrogating him the instant we were all alone.

“I’m going to marry her,” he answers without missing a beat, and my head swings his way as my eyes widen. “What?” He shrugs.

“You can’t say that.” I shake my head.

“I can if it’s true.”

“We haven’t even said I love you.”

“I love you,” he says like he’s telling me his favorite color.

“Don’t say that,” I snap, starting to get annoyed.

“Why not?”

“Yeah, why not?” Toya asks, and I glare at her, then look at him.

“Because it’s not true.”

“Yes, it fucking is. I love you,” he growls, and I shake my head again.

“Are you really telling me you love me for the first time in front of my best friend and in the middle of a beer distillery?”

“Is there a certain place I’m supposed to tell you that I love you for the first time?” he asks, and Tony laughs.

“Well, no, but I can think of a few other moments we’ve had that would have been better.”

“You’ll never forget the first time he told you,” Toya inserts like she’s being helpful, and I focus on her.

“You’re not helping.”

“When did you want him to tell you?” She raises a brow.

“I don’t know. Where were you when Tony told you for the first time?”

“In bed.”

“See? That’s better,” I point out.

“He had just come. I was pretty sure he was full of shit,” she says, and Tony huffs out a laugh.

“You guys really are no help.” I sigh, then turn to look at Aiden when his thumb and index finger grab hold of my chin.

“I love you,” he says softly, and my chest feels funny while my nose stings like I might cry.

“Thank you, but I’m saving my ‘I love you too’ until we get home,” I whisper, and his lips twitch before he leans forward and covers my mouth with his. And even with my best friend and her husband right there, I climb onto his lap to kiss him back, and it’s deep and wet and everything a kiss after hearing “I love you” should be, which totally makes up for him giving me those three words in the middle of a beer distillery.